


we're not a couple (no really)

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Cute, Dating, F/M, False relationships, Funny, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-06 08:03:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4214271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma Simmons has an enormous crush on the hottest guy in the science department, and she and Skye are attempting to make it happen. Their latest scheme? Have Jemma date their best friend Fitz to make the other guy jealous. –Fitzsimmons AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Operation Date Fitz

a/n: because I feel like after the wreck of emotions that season 2 was (and what season 3 is probably going to be) we could all do with a little fluffy cheer.  
(Also I just made up Derek because I don’t want to use any AOS characters for…plot reasons;) )  
.  
.  
.

 

Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the darkside,  
I wanna be your left hand man  
.  
.  
.

 

“You’re doing it again,” her best friend’s annoyed voice cut through Jemma’s haze, and she jolted upright like someone had shocked her with a Taser. Fitz was glaring at her slightly over the assembled mess of metal part he was assembling, and Jemma quickly realized that some of her dendrotoxin that they were using was dripping onto the table. Which, considering the precarious lab they were in the middle of, was highly dangerous.

She quickly righted her mistake, ripping her eyes away from the small window inside the door and taking care of her wreck. She was inwardly chastising herself, no doubt this mistake was noted by her best friend as some sort of lovesick school girl move.

“What do you mean?” she asked, quickly wiping up the mess with a clean cloth. Fitz rolled his eyes, sticking the pieces of his gun together with a more desperate fervor. Their last attempt had ended with the gun exploding (for whatever reason.) Making the ‘Night Night Gun’ was more difficult that expected.

“You’re staring.”

“At who?” Jemma tried to play off the fact that she didn’t know what he was talking about, focusing on putting her experiment away. It was almost lunchtime.

“You know who,” Fitz grumbled, “Bloody Mr. Perfect over there.”

“Don’t call him that, and I was merely zoning out,” she lied, rubbing her hands together, her stomach growling. Now that she wasn’t distracted, her hunger was on her mind.

“In his direction?” Fitz obviously was not buying her carefully constructed lie. (She didn’t really blame him, it was quite obvious and he was around her and Skye almost 24/7 besides.)

“Where do you want to eat lunch?”

Fitz watched her with narrowed eyes. He ignored her question. “You can’t keep doing this in our workplace Jemma.”

“Do what?”

“You know what.”

“Oh –“ Jemma bit her lip, “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be completely focused after lunch.”

Fitz blinked, and then sighed. “I hope so.”

.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“So,” Skye said as soon as Fitz and Jemma entered their apartment. “Fitz texted me today.”

Jemma groaned, already knowing what her best friend had texted the other. She shot a glare at Fitz, who merely raised his hands in defense and went to change out of his work clothes. She wasn’t that surprised or betrayed, Fitz always went to Skye with this sort of information. He probably just wanted her to stop at this point.

“Let me guess – it was about the staring?”

“I knew you liked him, but I didn’t think it would be enough for Fitz to notice.”

“I almost ruined our lab,” Jemma explained, “And he does live with us.”

“I reject that statement,” Fitz said, coming into the room in a clean pair of pants and a Doctor Who T-shirt. “I notice lots of things. It also doesn’t help that he’s the only thing you two talk about.”

“We do not –“

“Yes you do – “

“Anyways,” Skye said cutting off the argument and turning back to Simmons, “We really need to find out what’s happening with this guy.”

They both ignored Fitz’s prolonged groan. As Simmons put it, if Fitz decided to live with two girls, he was going to have to deal with their ‘game plan’. Of course, this was technically Simmons and his own apartment (Skye was bunking for free) but it didn’t mean that he got any less of their plans.

“I know!” Simmons protested, “I’ve done everything you’ve told me to, and that’s a lot.”

Skye frowned, and Fitz busied himself with cleaning off the counters in their tiny kitchen. He always got strangely neat when they talked about Derek, like if he washed it away he couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Simmons had been trying to get Derek to really notice her for around a year now. He had been the new kid in their lab department, on that both she and Skye had noticed. Skye had been very excited that Simmons had seemed interested in a guy that wasn’t Fitz (and even with Fitz it was completely platonic.) and they had automatically come up with plans to get Derek to notice her.

She rolled her shoulders.

“Let me take a shower, and we’ll talk.”  
.  
.  
.  
.  
When Simmons got back, Skye had out their ‘planning’ notebook, and Fitz had a beer tucked in his hand. Since their last operation to get this guy to ‘really notice Jemma’ as Skye put it failed, this meant that they would be making a new one.

“Okay,” Skye said, “So operation wear sexier clothes has failed.” She crossed out something in that god-awful notebook.

“I sorta changed around lunch,” Simmons shivered, “It was – just no.”

“I agree,” Fitz spoke up (he hadn’t really minded the outfit at all). “There were far to many guys stopping by the lab that day.”

Skye tapped the edge of her pen against her lips.

Fitz sighed and took a long drink of his beer. It wasn’t like they hadn’t already gone through this before. (This would be the tenth plan they made up in the last six months.)  
Simmons never used to be interested in well….guys before – other than the odd boyfriend through their academy days. He had known her for almost ten years now, and he had never seen her (or Skye for that matter) get so worked up over a boy. Of course, they were always insisting that he was a hot science nerd, but quite frankly Fitz found him rather shallow and annoying. Wasn’t he a hot science nerd as well? It was almost insulting.

Maybe it was because while Simmons and Skye were constantly trying to get him to notice Simmons, to get him to ask her on a date, to get him to talk to her in a way more than just friends, Fitz was always used as their ammo. He had talked to Derek at least five times just for the purpose of finding out more about him – because he was a guy. He was to much of their friend to be considered as a ‘hottie’ as they put it.

Skye had always been one for plans, and really getting Simmons together with a guy had always been one of her goals for whatever reason. What had started out as a mere acknowledgement of Derek’s appearance had quickly turned into some odd obsession with making it happen. Skye was always into the romantic aspect of things…  
“Well obviously he doesn’t get flirting when he can see it –“ Skye said.

“Yeah, but I don’t really know how to flirt,” Jemma added, and Fitz watched her as she talked. He had known her for so long, yet he still couldn’t understand why she was so into Derek. Skye either for that matter. He wasn’t anything special.

“Let’s see, this is operation number ten…so nine was a failure…”

“And so were all the other one’s before that,” Fitz added under his breath, but the two other ones ignored him. He considered calling Hunter, but the other man was on his second honeymoon (with the same woman no less) and he didn’t think that he would appreciate Fitz calling him, not matter how desperate his actions may be.

“Okay, so let’s go through what we’ve done so far. Step one was becoming friends with him –“

“And I did, but it isn’t like he noticed me otherwise –“

“Ask him out –“

“He thought it was a group bowling night and brought like five other people – “Suggest doing a lab together –“

“Fitz vetoed that one.”

“Of course I did,” Fitz muttered, “Can’t have him screwing up our research.” (He didn’t think that Derek was all that smart.)

“Flirt with him –“

“I can’t flirt.”

“Invite him to dance at a company party –“

“I spilled punch on his shoes.”

“Ask him for help at least fifty times –“

“He questioned why I wasn’t asking Fitz.”

Fitz zoned out. Seriously, didn’t they understand that Derek was an unreasonable prick that certainly wasn’t good enough for Jemma. (talking as her best friend of course.) She was nice, intelligent, pretty; she deserved someone that it wouldn’t take like fifty plans to get him to notice her. She needed someone that would make up fifty plans to ask her on a date.  
He heard Skye suggest something new, but he wasn’t really listening anymore. He didn’t really see the point, considering that it probably wouldn’t go anywhere.

Not that he doubted his best friend, or her ability to get men to fall for her. It was more the fact that Derek was –

“You could date Fitz!” he heard the words come out of Skye’s mouth, instantly snapping him from his ‘hate Derek’ reverie.

“What?”

“Skye really –“

“Some people just don’t want things until they can’t have them,” Skye said, shrugging. “Maybe he’s the same.”

“And how does dating me come into anything?” Fitz demanded, getting slightly alarmed. He would do anything for these two girls (they were like his family) but this was nearing his limit.  
“It will make him jealous if Jemma suddenly started dating her lab partner,” Skye explained, “Everyone already thinks you’re her boyfriend anyways.”

“But I’m not –“Fitz protested, his eyes turning pink.

“You wouldn’t actually be her boyfriend,” Skye said, rolling her eyes. “You two would just have to pretend for a little while until Derek opens his eyes and then you two break up and presto!” she clapped her hands, “They’re together.”

“Why doesn’t she date someone else?” Fitz asked, seeing endless problems with the matter.

“Because with you I don’t have to worry,” Jemma said brightly, her brown eyes melting into his, “It’s not like you’re in love with me or anything.  
Fitz tried to come up with another reason why this couldn’t work but he couldn’t. There was only one.

Fitz can’t tell her the real reason, the secret he’s been keeping for the past nine years. The secret that he’s trying to deny himself. If he really wanted to make it not true, then he would have to go along with this ridiculous plan.

“Alright,” he said, “I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend for your ridiculous schemes. But you both owe me.”

Both girls nodded, and Skye began to smile wider.

“The jealously thing always works,” she told Jemma smugly, “It’s how I got –“ she broke off abruptly, the smile disappearing from her face.

“Derek’s not like him,” Jemma reassured her, “He’s a biochemist. Not a specialist.”

“Okay so let’s –“

Fitz sipped his beer, his eyes downcast. The other two would just think he was zoning out, thinking about science or some other stuff, but he couldn’t focus, not right now.  
He had just agreed (probably willingly too) to pretending to be Jemma’s boyfriend. He didn’t know what was going to happen with this, and something about it twisted his stomach.  
He didn’t really want Jemma to date Derek, but if there was one thing he could never do, it was refuse his best friend a favor when she wanted it.

It’s not like you’re in love with me or anything.

Yep. He wasn’t in love with her.

Really.

He wasn’t.

“Operation Date Fitz and make him jealous comes into action tomorrow!” Skye said triumphantly, snapping shut the notebook.

Jemma placed her hand on his arm, her smile practically blinding him.

“Thank you for helping with this Fitz.”

(He still wasn’t in love with her.)


	2. Operation First Fake Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re going on a date with Jemma today!” Skye said, rolling her eyes. “Well…sort of a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive feedback!

.  
I’m a little bit sheltered  
I’m a little bit scared  
I’m a little bit nervous  
I’m goin’ no where  
-Believer, American Authors.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
The next morning started out just like every other morning. Fitz got out of bed (barely), ate a bowl of cereal, and was just about to get dressed when Skye bounced into the kitchen. The hacker was still technically living in her van, but she stayed with Fitz and Simmons 95% of the time, so her presence in his kitchen this early was expected. 

“Are you ready?” she sang, her eyes overly bright for this early. Skye usually got out of bed around eleven – not at eight. 

“Ready for what?” he asked, his brain still in sleep mode. 

“You’re going on a date with Jemma today!” Skye said, rolling her eyes. “Well…sort of a date.”

That made Fitz wake up. In his early morning haze he had totally forgotten about his promise to Jemma. He refrained the urge to go ‘oh shit’ and instead nodded, acting like he knew what she was talking about the entire time. It wasn’t like he zoned out for most of their conversation the night before or anything…

“Oh yeah…”

“Don’t worry about remembering all the details,” Skye said, going over to the coffee pot (the one he had installed for her birthday) and starting it up to brew up a strong cup. “I’ve got you covered.”

“Oh – good,” Fitz said, instead taking a sip of his tea. Both he and Simmons preferred tea over coffee – in fact he already had her mug waiting for her on the table.

They didn’t have a dining area in their apartment, instead just a bar and a few barstools. Skye swung herself up onto the barstool next to him, her eyes bright and happy. (He thought it might be slightly concerning how involved she was in all this.) 

“So Derek always eats at this one place every Friday night –“

“Do you guys stalk him?” Fitz asked in horror. 

“No, you know Jemma does talk to him as a friend every once and a while.” 

“Oh, good,” Fitz said, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure how down he would be with the plan if they were stalking Derek (no matter how unlikeable the guy was.)  
“So you and Jemma are going to go to dinner there tonight, and obviously be couple-y- and make sure he sees you.” 

“What’s being couple-y?” 

“Well you dated Brenda for a couple months, whatever you two did in public.”

“Okay,” Fitz tried to picture he and Jemma holding hands in public, walking together, talking softly, kissing – “I think I understand.”

Skye didn’t seem perturbed by his expression, or whatever he had been thinking. She just beamed brightly, jumped down, got her coffee, and turned to leave.

“Just don’t mess this up okay Fitz?” she asked, “It means a lot to Jemma.”

Fitz took another long sip of his tea. “Yeah I know,” he replied.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
Later that night, he’s sent off to his room to ‘look presentable’. He doesn’t completely see the point, considering it isn’t actually a real date, but he figured it was better to just go along with it rather than complain.

He was wearing a too small suit jacket, a tie patterned with different periodic elements, and grey pants. It wasn’t the classiest of outfits, but he figured that Simmons bought him this tie so he might as well wear it.

Skye sighed when she saw him, but she luckily didn’t try to fix him or anything. 

“Okay, Fitz are you ready?” Jemma asked as she came out into the hall. They hadn’t talked much about their ‘date’ today while working, it seemed to be an awkward topic for everyone (but Skye) – although now of course it was here and startlingly –

But it didn’t really matter, because this wasn’t an actual date, it was just a pretend one. Of course, that didn’t stop his jaw dropping open when Jemma walked out of her room.

She was wearing a sort of summer dress, and it was white with a yellow trim, and was definitely tighter than anything she usually wore. In fact, Fitz was almost certain that she had never worn something like it before and was wondering where she even had that stashed.

“Skye took me shopping,” she said in response to his inquisitive look. 

“Oh, yeah, I knew that.” 

“Alright,” Jemma crossed her arms over her chest, and the silence filling the air was deafening. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah,” Fitz said quickly, trying to act like this was no awkward at all, and offered up his arm. 

(To his relief Jemma took it.)  
.  
.  
.  
.  
The restaurant was nice, but Fitz instantly felt overdressed. It was very obviously a more casual type place, but Jemma seemed happy so he decided that it was alright. (Although her happiness might be directed towards the fact that Derek was sitting alone at one of the tables.)

“C’mon,” she whispered, “Let’s go say hi.” 

She slid her hand into his, her fingers wrapping tightly around his own. It wasn’t the first time they had held hands (that had been in the amusement park when they were bombarded by tourists) but it was the first time they had held hands where it was supposed to look like a couple. 

Her hand was slightly sweaty – or was that his hand?

“Won’t he find a bit suspicious that we’re here at the exact same time, on the exact same night he always comes?” 

“That’s why you’re here,” Jemma said under her breath to him, “Because this way, it doesn’t look like I’m hitting on him.”

“But isn’t that what you’re trying to do?”

“No.” 

Fitz was (quite obviously) confused. 

“Then what are we trying to accomplish?”

“We’re making him jealous. Honestly Fitz, were you listening to me and Skye at all?” 

He ignored this and instead tugged her lightly in Derek’s direction. If they were going to do this, they might as well get it over with. Jemma seemed to realize what he was doing and caught up to him quickly, pressing her arm against his in a distinctly intimate position. 

It sent tingles up his spine, even though it was just her arm – and even though it was quite warm, it didn’t make it any –

He cut off those thoughts before they could go anywhere.

“Derek!”

Derek, perfect-in-every-way-bio-chemist-slash-nerd-slash-guitar-player glanced up at the sound of Jemma’s voice. 

“Jemma!” he said in his annoying voice with his annoying smile and everything. Fitz hated him. “And Flipper!”

“My name is Fitz,” he corrected.

“Oh yeah, my bad. What takes you here?”

Jemma spoke up eagerly. “We’re on a date, and I heard you talk about it so I thought –“

“You two are dating?” Derek seemed interested now, his eyes sparking into an emotion Fitz couldn’t quite place. It made him uncomfortable (for whatever reason) but it made Jemma light up like a Christmas tree.

“Yes!” she said brightly, “For a couple weeks now. I heard you talk about this place, so I thought we might want to try it,” before Fitz or Derek could say anything she continued, “Well, we better get going, see you later!” and with that being said, she waved a farewell at Derek and yanked Fitz after her to the table the waiter had been (trying) to show them to.

“Why didn’t you keep talking to him?” Fitz asked as he pulled out Jemma’s chair so she could sit down. He moved to sit in his own chair, and she smiled warmly at him.

“It’s part of the things Skye’s been teaching me.”

“Ah,” he doesn’t really know what else to say, and Jemma just beamed brightly at him.

 

“I have to thank you for doing this for me Fitz,” she said, “You’re a great friend.”  
“Yeah,” Fitz found himself smiling back at her, admiring how pretty she looked tonight. “You look very nice tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said, and then picked up her menu. “Let’s get something to eat, shall we?”

“Yeah,” Fitz said, mimicking her, and he placed the menu strategically over his face. He wasn’t sure how to feel at the moment, because Jemma looked really pretty, and Derek obviously thought so – he was on a bloody date with her. It might not be a real date, but it didn’t stop Derek from checking her out, and it didn’t stop that from being so absolutely wrong. 

“Have you decided what you want to get?” Jemma asked, snapping Fitz from his reverie. He snapped to attention, picking the first thing off the menu.

“I’ll have the Brussels sprout pasta!” he said hurriedly, flipping down the menu. Jemma stared at him incredulously.

“You hate Brussels Sprouts…” she said warily, “Are you feeling okay?” 

“Yeah…fine,” he said, looking at the menu more closely. “I misread. I wanted the pesto. Not the Brussels.”

Jemma nodded, setting down her menu. She looked over at Derek, and then back at him.

“I don’t think he’s buying it.”

“Why not?”

“We’re not acting… couple-y.” 

“What’s couple –“ he broke off as Jemma’s foot nudged his foot under the table, and she shifted closer to him, leaning over the table and smiling. Her hand came out to rest on top of his, and her eyes were warm and adoring. 

“You’re the worst liar in the world, but somehow you’re good at this,” he muttered, smiling back and leaning forward as well. 

“Kiss me,” she hissed through her smile.

“Wait – what?”

“Just kiss me.”

He leaned forward, and she did too. His eyes were on her lips, her pretty smooth pink lips with the slight dent in the bottom lip, the one that was certain to taste like that watermelon chap stick she loved. Kiss her?

He moved quickly, and instead pecked her on the cheek lightly, leaning back with a satisfied look. Her skin had smelled faintly of Skye’s perfume and the lab’s chemicals. 

(He knew she and Skye were going to kill him for that later, but it was bloody Jemma Simmons. He didn’t want to kiss her – not like this.) 

The waiter came over then, and they both quickly ordered, the awkward tension between them mounting. He realized now that not kissing her could probably look like he didn’t want to kiss her but –

“So,” Jemma said, her hand still curled on top of his, “We still need to figure out how to assemble the gun so it shoots the dendrotoxin without well…”  
“Exploding,” Fitz finished, “Actually, I have a few ideas in mind for that –“ 

They may have been closer together physically than they normally were, but soon science was finishing the gaps in their sentences, and Jemma didn’t look over in Derek’s direction nearly as often. 

Of course, she was his best friend. He didn’t like her in that way. 

Really. 

It wasn’t until their food had arrived did something change in their friendly dynamic.

Jemma shifted, her ankle moving to entwine with his own. She looked over at Derek and smiled, waving slightly, her hand moving from his. His own fingers felt strangely cold without her warmth.

Fitz turned to see Derek moving towards them, and felt something like anger settle into his gut. Seriously, did this dude have any sense of personal boundaries? Even if it wasn’t a real date, it appeared to be one. 

“Hey guys,” Derek said, smiling as bright as the sun. (Fitz still hated him.) “I was wondering if you wanted to come dancing with my friends and I tomorrow night.”

He was looking at Jemma but Fitz answered. “We’d love to.” 

Derek looked surprised, like he had forgotten Fitz was there. “Oh yeah, sweet,” he finished, nodding and moving away.

Jemma beamed. 

(He thought he might be sick.)  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“Sooooo?” Skye asked, excitement filling her voice as the pair entered the apartment. “How did it go?”

“He was there, and he invited me dancing the next night!” Jemma squealed, and the two girls hugged.

“Us,” Fitz corrected, “He invited us to go dancing.” 

Skye smiled, but something in her eyes flickered, and she looked at Jemma in horror, her happiness gone in an instant. Fitz and Jemma understood it at the exact same time Skye did, but it was Jemma who spoke first.

“I don’t know how to dance.”


	3. Operation Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me how you're liking the story! Thank you for all the feedback.

"Oh don't you dare look back.  
Just keep your eyes on me."  
I said, "You're holding back, "  
She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"  
\- shut up and dance, walk the moon.

 

“Well luckily for all three of us,” Skye said, “We all have the day off today.”

“What do you do for a living?” Fitz asked with raised eyebrows.

“Shut up,” Skye crossed her arms over her chest, sticking out her tongue at him.  
Fitz had been the first one to meet Skye, when she hacked into his Facebook and changed all of his statuses and pictures to something…he’d rather not think about. What Skye hadn’t know was that while Fitz wasn’t the best hacker, he did manage to track her (she was acting quite sloppily at the time) but he found that instead of being angry, he struck up a conversation with the girl and they became quick friends.

With Jemma… It had been different.

“Skye, I need your help,” Jemma said in an appeasing voice. Fitz looked at her in astonishment.

“Why not me?”

“We have no proof that you can dance either,” Skye said, “And to answer your earlier question Leopold, I work at the computer store. And you know that.”

“Please,” Jemma spoke up again, interrupting their argument. “We have one day.”

Skye softened instantly, her eyes growing brighter. All three of them were currently sandwiched on the couch, and the whole thing shook when Skye leapt to her feet, whirling around and holding out her hands for Jemma to take.

Fitz groaned and sank back against the pillows. This was going to be a long day, and if possible, and even longer night.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“Jemma, I think you’ve stepped on my foot at least five times now,” Skye said, wincing.

“I’m sorry!”

They had been at it for hours now. Fitz had started watching Doctor Who instead of watching them, his TARDIS mug full of tea and his feet tucked into slippers. At this particular outburst, he quickly realized how close Skye was to breaking. Skye was normally pretty patient – but Fitz didn’t think she was capable of teaching Jemma.

“According to -“

“Jemma I swear, if you use one more scientific principle –“

Fitz was jumping up before he knew what he was doing. “Let me take over,” he said quickly, not even bothering to pause Doctor Who. Skye and Jemma may be best friends, but he could practically see the steam rising out of Skye’s ears.

“But you can’t –“

“Whoever said I couldn’t?” Fitz challenged, “Seriously Skye, go grab a beer or something.”

Skye eyed him warily, but she left anyways, muttering something about science he’d rather not repeat.

“I’ve never seen you dance,” Jemma began, but he approached her, taking her by the hands and pulling her towards him. She bumbled into him rather gracelessly, and he span her around regardless. She almost looked like she could dance when he pulled her back to him, and her cheeks certainly were flushed, her eyes large and wide.

“It’s because we don’t exactly go out dancing,” he told her, “But you should know that doesn’t mean one can’t dance.”

Jemma’s eyes were alight now. “Okay,” she said carefully, “Now what do I do?”

“Try not to act so surprised when I spin you, it makes you out of balance.”

“How do my emotions affect my dancing?” she asked incredulously, but her voice is genuinely curious.

“Try not to think,” Fitz said, “Just follow my – or whoever’s dancing with you, lead.”

“What if they don’t know how to dance either?”

“Then you shouldn’t be dancing together in the first place!”

“Oh,” Jemma blushed, it wasn’t often he got to actually correct her on something, usually she deductively reasoned things out on her own. (Another reason to hate Derek, he was clouding her judgment)

“Okay so step here – not on my foot!”

“Sorry!”

It took longer than either of them would have liked, Jemma’s feet tangling around his own like vines curling around a statue. She seemed to have a tough time with the more difficult moves, but was still eager after two hours. Skye had even come back and was watching them with amusement.

“Okay, I’m going to twirl you now,” Fitz warned in advance, “Watch my body movements so if anyone tries this with you, you know it’s coming.”

Jemma nodded, and he carefully twirled her. Instead of being prepared and being twirled in a circle and then back beside him, she stumbled, and began to fall towards him. He lifted up his arms to catch her, but he was too late and they went tumbling back onto the floor – Jemma on top of him.

Her hair formed a curtain around his face, her brown eyes fixed on his, and every pore in her face clearly visible from the distance he was from her.

“I’m so sorry!” she squealed, jumping off of him before he could do anything stupid.

“It’s alright,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, “Just don’t do that with Derek on the dance floor.”

(For the love of all things scientific, she better not do that with him on the dance floor. He may be a perfect gentleman, but he wasn’t so sure about Derek.)  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
The club is bright, flashing, and has way too many people for Fitz’s liking. It seemed like every inch of the dance floor was crammed with sweaty bodies, and while Jemma was craning her neck, looking for any sign of Derek, Fitz was rather hoping the other guy wouldn’t show up and they could go home.

It was also hot, he could already feel beads of sweat starting up on his neck.

“JEMMA! FITZ!” Derek’s voice sounded, and they both whirled around. He was standing at the opposite end of the dance floor, waving frantically. Jemma looked up at Fitz and smiled.

“Let’s go!” she cheered, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her. (That girl had optimism that never ceased to amaze him.)

Derek was waiting for them, with two girls by his side. Fitz almost felt Jemma wilt beside him, but she was as bright and bubbly as ever when she spoke.

“Hello!”

Derek grinned, “This is my sister Annika and her best friend Corbin. I decided to take them out dancing.”

Fitz saw Jemma relax at the words sister and best friend. (He wasn’t sure if he should feel offended by that.)

“Do you dance often?” Jemma asked the girls conversationally, and they both nodded. He felt her fingers tighten, “Me too.”

Maybe it was because he knew Jemma like the back of his hand, but he heard the lie in her voice. She was quite obviously (and probably for good reason) nervous, he could feel her clammy fingers slipping out of his.

“Well let’s get to it!” Derek cheered, and Jemma nodded. She turned to Fitz.

“Shall we?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly. He nodded, and mouthed follow my lead when Derek wasn’t looking.

“Okay,” Jemma said, when they were positioned on the outer edge of the dance floor. “I can do this.”

“Yes you can,” Fitz muttered, “Just pretend that we’re in our living room, Doctor Who is playing in the background – nobody but Skye and I are watching you.”

With that, they began to dance. She was dancing much closer than she probably would have, her chest centimeters from his own, and her smile inches from his face. He could tell that she was still nervous, but in his mind, she was the best damn dancer here. He reached out and took both of her hands, and twirled her.

She spun perfectly, and when she went crashing back into his chest, he managed to catch her and make it look on purpose. 

“You’re doing awesome,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned closer. She smelled like sweat and perfume, and it was then that he noticed the weird jumpsuit dress thing that Skye had dressed her in. It fit…rather well.

He felt a heated blush rise to his cheeks – she was beautiful tonight. (Not that she wasn’t beautiful every other night but…)

"Kiss me for real this time," Jemma whispered, leaning in closer. He stared at her lips, those perfect little pink crescents on her face. Kiss her? How could he -

Jemma, this time, didn't wait for him to comply. She leaned forward, and planted one on him. His brain goes deliciously blank because Jemma, his best friend of ten years, is kissing him. She tastes like lipstick and sweat and Jemma, and the feeling sends electricity shooting through his veins. It's like Jemma's a fire and he's kindling - he doesn't even realize he's kissing back with fervor until she pulled away.

"That was," she said, slightly out of breath, "Something." Fitz could feel people's eyes on him, they had stopped their dancing when they had kissed. 

"Yeah," he said, unsure of what to do now. 

"Great job," she said, blushing, and before the conversation could get anymore awkward, Derek and his sister came down on them.

"Can I dance with the lovely lady?" Derek asked, his eyebrows waggling. 

"Of course," Jemma answered, grinning as Derek took her hand and whirled her out onto the dance floor. Fitz watched her go, his smile slowly disappearing.

"Oh don't worry," Annika said brightly, taking his hand in her own. "You can dance with me. Besides, Derek won't take your girl from you."

Oh, Fitz thought, but he already has.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
It's two hours later, and Fitz fakes being sick to go home. He's still glad when Jemma goes with him, her smile infectious.

"I think that went well, don't you?" she asked once they were in the cab home.

"Yeah," Fitz said distractedly, staring out the window. He was thinking of the way she kissed him earlier, of how nice and electrifying it felt. If that was just a kiss to her, what would she act like with Derek?

"Fitz?" 

He looked over. Jemma had the window partially rolled down, and her caramel hair was waving around her face, her teeth a glimmer as she smiled at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, for doing this." 

To his surprise, she leaned over and gave him a hug, a rather awkward side one - but it was the first move in the last few days that had felt real. 

"No problem," he said, "It's what best friends do."  
.  
.  
.  
.  
Skye is waiting up for them, and at the sight of the smile on Jemma's face, she jumped up and started clapping. 

"So it went well?"

"Yes!" Jemma trilled, and the two girls hugged. "Derek called me lovely and we danced together, it was amazing!"

"How did Fitz go?" Skye asked, her eyes following Fitz as he hung his coat up on the hook. He was about to tell her when Jemma interrupted -

"You owe me twenty bucks Skye." 

"So he did kiss you?"

"Well...I kissed him. But he was a good kisser."

"Damn, Who knew that awkward science turtle here could kiss?"

"I reject that statement!" Fitz sputtered, "I never said I couldn't kiss. And if you are to compare me to an animal - for god's sake do a monkey."

"I take back whatever I said about your lips," Skye said, raising her hands and grinning. "You must be pretty good."

"Thank you."

"Now how's Jemma?" Skye asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

"Skye!"

"What, my two science geeks kissed. I need details." 

"No."

"Never."

"Fine."


	4. Operation Date Jemma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who's reviewed!

 

_Di-di-di-di-di-did I?_

_Stutter, Stutter, Stutter,_

           

            After a vaguely calm Sunday filled with lots of _thank you’s_ and Doctor Who, Fitz was once again bombarded the following Monday.

            He _automatically_ knew he was in trouble when he woke up to find both Skye and Jemma sitting on the couch, heads together, grins on their faces.

            “So I’m guessing operation Date Fitz is _still_ not done?” he groaned.

            “Of course not!” Skye scoffed, “I mean c’mon Fitz. It’s been working beautifully, why would we stop now?”

            “Unless you don’t want to help anymore…?” Jemma trailed off, and her big brown eyes were resting on top of him in such a way that he felt distinctly uncomfortable.

            “Oh alright,” he groaned, “But I need some tea before we start.”

.

.

.

            “You want _me_ to talk to _him_?” Fitz asked in astonishment around fifteen minutes later, a cup of tea in his hand, dressed for work.

            “Yes!” Skye said brightly. “It will be the perfect opportunity for you to talk up Jemma.”

            “Well…what do I say about her?”

            “If you were talking about her attributes to your Mom, what would you say?” Skye asked, carefully sipping her coffee.

            “I would say that she’s nice and great at science,” Fitz said automatically, and Skye rolled her eyes.

            “Okay that’s a good start. Add things like, _beautiful_ and _a good kisser_.”

            “Why does Derek need to know that Jemma kisses nice?”

            Skye reached across and tapped him lightly on the forehead. “I thought you were supposed to be a genius. It’s so he will _want_ to kiss _her_.”

            (Fitz wasn’t quite sure he was on board with this one. Or _any_ of their messed up plans for one.)

            “Okay, so what aspects of,” he waved his hand generally in Jemma’s direction, “ _Her_ do I talk about?”

            “You can – “ before Skye could finish whatever she was saying, Jemma jumped up in horror.

            “We’re going to be late for work!” she said in alarm, waving her phone at him. Indeed – the time said they were supposed to clock in _ten minutes_.

            “We’ve got to go,” Fitz said, thrusting his teacup at Skye. “I’ll do what you two she-beasts ask at lunch.”

            As he was leaving the room to grab his coat he heard Skye mutter _I’ll show you what a she-beast is._

.

.

.

.

.

            Fitz was seriously considering rethinking his life choices. He was pretty sure that moving to like Utah would be beneficial, building a hut in the Rocky Mountains and living off the land – anything to get out of telling Derek what a fantastic kisser Jemma was so he would _want_ to kiss her.

            The moment their lunch break started, Jemma pushed him towards the cafeteria.

            “But you usually pack me – “

            “Not today!”

            That was when, grumbling very loudly about the bad influence Skye was having on her, he continued to the cafeteria.

            It was true that Derek was now sitting (alone) at a table, an obviously homemade lunch sitting in front of him. He noticed Fitz standing with his crappy bought lunch and waved him over eagerly.

            “Fitz, I don’t usually see you here! How’s Jemma?”

            Fitz took the seat across from him, fidgeting slightly in his seat. Skye hadn’t given him enough time to allow him to be properly briefed, and he felt a little overwhelmed staring into Derek’s face.

            “She’s doing great,” he said, “She’s just being – Jemma.”

            “How is it like, dating her?”

            You’d almost think Skye had talked to _him_ as well, with his careful planned questions about Jemma.

            “It’s great,” Fitz said, maybe a little to quick. “She’s awesome.”

            “Really? I always thought she would be a bit…well _dull_ in the past,” Derek said, and Fitz clenched his fists tightly, but covered it up by taking a large bite of whatever the hell the cafeteria had given him. (It looked like a burnt hamburger on a platter.)

            “Jemma is the most interesting person you will ever meet,” he said quickly, his eyes feverish on Derek’s. “The fact that she even considered me to be her boyfriend is a _great_ honor. She’s probably the smartest person to ever come through this place, and she’s beautiful besides, with that brown wavy hair and those caramel eyes and the little scrunchy thing she does with her nose when she’s upset. She’s also probably the kindest soul you’ll ever meet, she’ll never say anything mean, and she’s a great cook and fantastic kisser. So no, I would not call her dull.”

            Derek looked taken aback, and Fitz tried for a smile.

            “Well I never thought about her that way,” Derek said thoughtfully, “And she is a good kisser?”

            Fitz nodded absently, and then picked up his lunch abruptly. “I’ve got to go.”

            “I didn’t mean to –“

            He didn’t hear what Derek hadn’t ‘ _meant’_ to say, he was already leaving in quite a hurry, throwing his lunch away. Jemma was still in the lab when he got back, and she looked up hopefully at him.

            “How did it go?”

            “Good,” he lied, because while it might have for her and Derek; it certainly hadn’t done wonders for _him_ and _her_. “But I don’t really feel good, I’ve got to go.”

            “But we haven’t started –“

            “Sorry,” he said quickly, throwing his stuff together in his bag. “Got to take the rest of the day off. Massive stomachache.”

            Jemma looked disappointed, “Alright then.”

            It was true that his stomach was in knots, but it wasn’t because of any kind of illness. It was because of her, how she was standing there, her arms gently resting on the table, those caramel eyes watching him with inventiveness and care – _platonically_.

            He left the lab in even _more_ of a hurry now, quickly signing in at the desk and making it known that he was taking the rest of the day off.

            He hadn’t made it five feet from the building before he got a call from Skye.

            “I just got a text from Jemma, _why_ did you leave work early?” she asked, alarm filling every inch of her voice.

            “Don’t worry,” he said into the phone, his tone sounding probably slightly more bitter than he originally intended it too, “I did your stupid plan as anticipated. Derek will probably want her to have his babies or something now.”

            He hung up the phone and turned it off, stuffing it deep into his bag. He didn’t know why he was acting like a hormonal teenage girl all of the sudden, but all he wanted to do was blast his headphones and go to – go to _the science museum_. (As in, life’s greatest pleasure.)

            Also, Fitz’s choice of comfort food.

            As soon as he stepped into the large room, he felt a whoosh of tension he hadn’t realized he had been holding escape.

            The science museum had always held a special bond with him, and he needed it now more than ever.

            There was no more denying the obvious. There was no more denying that his best friend of ten years – well maybe she was a little _more_ than a friend to him. Maybe she always had been – he had obviously been suppressing this for a while.

            “Well shit,” he muttered, meandering inside and stopping at a large display of the sun. Sure, he might have been struggling with these emotions for a while, but it didn’t make acknowledging them any less difficult.

            Still, his word vomit in the cafeteria today had definitely proved his worst fears.

            “I knew you would come here!” an annoyed voice cuts through his haze, and he turns to see Skye, still wearing her work outfit, marching towards him.

            “What do you want?” he grumbled.

            “I want to know what’s up with _you_ ,” Skye said, surprising him. “Not Jemma and Derek – but _you_.”

            “I’m fine,” he lied, staring intently at the fake sun.

            “No you’re not. Quite frankly you’ve been a grumpy ass since Jemma and I came up with this plan, and you’re not _usually_ so rude to her, not to mention you’ve _lied_ to us both today.”

            “Well who cares?” he shrugs his shoulders, “I’m sure you and Lincoln from down the street will hook up eventually – Derek and Jemma will eventually get married, and everything will end happy.”

            “You don’t sound to happy about it,” Skye pointed out, stepping closer and knocking shoulders with him. “C’mon Fitzy, I didn’t use one of my sick days so you could make up some lame ass excuse.”

            “Yeah well, maybe you should just go back to work.”

            Skye’s mouth fell open, and her eyes grew the size of dinner plates. “You’re in love with her aren’t you?”

            “Wha – what?” Fitz stuttered, looking at her in horror. Was he _that_ easy to read?

            “You are,” Skye said, and then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my god, Fitz I’m so sorry.”

            He wasn’t expecting that, he blinked at her, confused. “What?”

            “I set her up with Derek because I let – because I thought you _weren’t_ in love with her.”

            “You were originally going to set me up with Jemma?”  

            “Yes!” she said, stomping her foot in frustration. “And now I’ve ruined everything.”

            “It’s not your –“

            “But hope isn’t over just yet!” Skye exclaimed, “I think this calls for a new plan.”

            “Oh bloody hell – what is it –“

            “Operation Date Jemma.”

 


End file.
